What are you waiting for?
There is a need within you to write, so why on Earth are you ignoring it? You have worlds within you waiting to be shown and explored!
Be brave and explore them…one word at a time.
With Love & Ink,
JBHarris
Hopes and wishes do not fill pages, Oracles. Wishes are what we write down in order to fulfill them. Writing is equal parts talent and decision. Put both of those together today, right now and fill pages.
With Love & Ink,
JBHarris
Pursue the words.
Gather the words.
The words will always remain and sustain. But blank pages in the vicinity of a writer are blasphemy.
With Love & Ink,
JBHarris
Take heart, dear Oracles.
Your imagination is not the enemy. What you dreamed up, you have the complete right to write down. And you should! You should chase your imagination to its complete end. Search every nook and cranny of your thoughts. Be drunk on your own imagination. Block out the world to create your own.
With Love & Ink,
JBHarris
*Author note: Look for this to be a miniseries on The Writers’ Block Podcast.
Being a writer is a fraught with all types of pitfalls, stresses and doubts. The most uncomfortable of those bedfellows is self-rejection.
Self-rejection the stray dog which keeping coming to your back door even when you don’t feed it. It is the fly in the ointment, the hair in your favorite meal–it is an utter and complete nuisance. Yet, once you have seen it–you can’t unsee it. And then you see it everywhere. From that fear of seeing these disgusting things everywhere, these uncomfortable things, you don’t want to see them–or be where there are–ever again.
Yet, to be a writer of any consistent success you must confront the distraction of self-rejection. I’ll leave you a map when these cycles arise.
Check this out:
I. The Start.
II. The Middle.
III. The End.
IV. Rebeginning.
The Start. Stephen King said the scariest part is right before you begin. You will always experience this at the start of any new draft, any new page or idea. You will always be afraid.
Remedy: Write scared. Write mad. Write anyway.
II. The Middle. In the middle of a work, you may feel like you want to scrap the entire work! You may feel the need to question your sanity, talent, and anything adjacent to it. However, do not give in to the need to throw it all away. Keep writing!
Remedy: It is completely okay to want to scrap a work. It is okay to not like an idea and want to start over. But you have to value the work you put into it. If the draft has become too hard, put it away. DO NOT ERASE IT. The best thing you can do for your imagination is to let it rest every now and then. Rest. Think. Come back to it.
III. The End. Oh, endings. We as writers beat ourselves up, down and over hot coals about these! It is the desire of every writer to tell a really good story—we almost hate to have the story end! However, even with us ending the story–we often hate it (this happens more than you think it does!). Then we start all over again with the wishing we never wrote it.
Remedy: Do not despair! If there is more story to be told try either writing a sequel (or prequel), or making the story a series. But, keep in mind–every story must end. You must make room for the other stories you desire to create. IF you don’t like the ending–give yourself 3 tries to get it as you want. If none of those fit, leave the original as is. Second, get beta readers! See what they think and take that into account! 85% of writing is the actual writing, the remaining 15% is how it is received. Readers are important–they can help save the life of a book.
IV. Rebeginning. As a writer, there will always be stories to tell. Other things, themes and people to create or revisit. You are going to have to get used to that. Whether you want to make writing a hobby, or just something pursue as a career. Every book brings new challenges. New fears. New things to research, uncover and confront. Not every idea is trash—and you shouldn’t treat it as such.
Remedy: Follow through. With every word you write, every post you publish, every book you finish, you will get better at this. Writing is a having to do mental exercise for the rest of your life! Get used to the jitters, that means you are creating something that scares you a little. This means it will be amazing.
I am always telling you, my dear Oracles to believe in yourself. In times such as these, it bares repeating. You must know what is in times such as these, it cannot be overstated as to how imperative it is to believe you can do the work you have purposed to do. Writing is work. To work is to write. Be willing to do both. With Love & Ink, JBHarris
Time is a thief and a liar.
Time will tell you what you cannot have, what you will not create, what will never come of your effort.
It will have you afraid to pick up your pen.
You must not listen to time–not be bound by it. Yet you must negotiate ruthlessly with it! As a writer, you must know what time means–and what it doesn’t mean.
Time means you have things to do–not the duration they need to be done in.
Words defy time, and the work you create lasts always–if you start.
Do it.
Keep writing.
With Love & Ink,
JBHarris
The term self-rejection is a buzzword to a few, and a reality to some. You have to understand the process of writing is hard. You have to develop a thick skin to write.
With that said, how does one define ‘self-rejection’, I definite as:
Self-rejection is when you as a writer believe you shouldn’t write, have no support to keep writing, and should never even start writing.
Self-rejection is a paralytic to those whom desire to write, and want to show such work to a curious public. It robs you of the belief in yourself! It robs you of creativity, the power and skill of your own imagination, forcing you to believe what you desire to do–it is not worthy of merit, support or recognition.
All writers go through a cycle or season of this–but that is just what it is! It should be temporary. In order to truly embrace the talent you, yourself, house, you must give yourself permission to write what you desire.
No more. No less. Remember the ARR.
Accept what your imagination is giving you.
Realize you have the ability to write it.
Remember the first person you write for is yourself.
As the writer–yes, YOU the writer, have a duty to write. Franz Kafka said, “A non-writing writer is a monster courting insanity.” You counter not writing, by writing–there is no other shortcut. The first person you need support, whom you need to believe in your talent, is you.
Don’t reject you.
Half the year is gone, dear ones.
With six months gone, with six months remaining there are still stories yet to tell. There are still things to imagine, there are still things to record and there is still work to be done.
Do not be tricked by the calendar, dear ones.
Get your work done.
For writers, time is not dictated by clocks–it is by pens.
With Love & Ink,
JBHarris
